Of Arrays and Guns
by Tsubaki-chan
Summary: Dedicated to Rikku-chan. A series of drabble featuring Roy and Riza. RoyRiza
1. First Meeting

WARNING: Set in pre-anime time… No spoiler.  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hagane no Renkinjutsushi. It belongs to Hiromu Arakawa sensei.  
PAIRING: RoyRiza

**Of Arrays and Guns**

#1. First Meeting

**OXOXOXOXO**

When she first saw him, he had been burying his nose into the library books, his tired, dead charcoal eyes focusing on the book, only the book as if nothing else mattered to him.

His skin proved of his diet, pale and dry. She knew that shade of skin, the skin that lost the sheen it used to carry, lost the healthy blood that pumped through the flesh. Maybe if he took care of himself a bit more, he'd have been the catch of the military women. His eyes were dark, no spark of liveliness in those depths. The military's usually clean crisp uniform he wore was wrinkled, though it was thankfully clean. But it was painfully obvious that not only did he not take care of himself, he also didn't care about his things and surroundings.

She remember standing over there, mesmerized by the sight of dead but determined military man, until a young librarian with dark skin asked her if she needed any help. She quickly said that she was okay and scurried away with the books she needed, which she already checked out. She was slightly ashamed, mentally scolding herself for not being focused on her task, which was to get some books for her boss, who was an alchemist. Without looking back, she hurried away.

She didn't think about that incident for a while until she met him face to face like a week after. He had been sitting on the couch outside the office, concentrated on the book on his lap while he waited for his meeting with the General. She approached him and asked him how he was, saluting, in a crisp business and military-like manner like she always did. He was a lieutenant colonel, a higher rank than her while she was a 2nd Lieutenant at that time.

"I'm fine," he only smiled at her, though it was weak and forced, "Thank you for asking." His voice was soft and polite, defeated, lacking the business-like, the crisp tone of a soldier. Then he went back to reading before she could say anything else. She just shrugged and walked into the office, and handed her boss the documents he needed. As she went back to her desk to carry on with her work, her boss called him in, and he disappeared through the door, his gloved hands firmly by his side just like any military men.

She found out that day that his name was Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist and the young lieutenant colonel, due to her acquaintances' gossip during lunch. She had been surprised that the military women still found him attractive even when he looked like a man going to his own funeral.

Then she bumped into him again at the library few days after, him occupying his previous seat and a new book in his lap, and her carrying out another errand for her boss. She briefly debated mentally whether to go greet him or not, but her polite side finally won and she approached him carefully, as quiet as she can.

He didn't even twitch when she stopped right in front of him, his eyes still on the book and unmoving. She stood there, feeling dumb, watching the Lt. Colonel read his book. She wasn't sure what to do to catch his attention, to be precise. She knew that if she just stood there, she'd never catch his attention, but she thought that it'd be rude to clear her throat right in front of him just to do that. So she just walked away, sighing, never realizing that his eyes left the book and was watching her stride away.

**OXO**

"2nd Lieutenant Hawkeye, you've been instructed to work under Lt. Colonel Mustang," her boss said firmly, a remarkable image of a leader, "It was a pleasure working with you."

"Sir," she only said, saluting and bowing slightly in appreciation, "I thank you for what you've done for me."

Their last meeting was sealed with a firm handshake, one gloved and other bare.

He was reading another book in his office, alchemy notes piling around him and the end of the pen between his teeth. He chewed slowly, frowning as his dark eyes swept across the book, taking in the content and trying to understand the concept. He occasionally tappedhis chin with the chewed end of his pen, and thenwritefuriously when struck with a thought.He didn't notice it when she entered quietly. But she definitely caught his attention when she abruptly slammed the door shut, her face expressingsatisfaction when the Lt. Colonel looked up from his book, startled.

"Sir," she saluted quickly, with a light smile, "I've been told to work under you starting from today."

"So I have heard," he said with a polite, but weary smile, standing up and closing his book with a book mark set on the page he was just reading before she came into his office, "Welcome to the crew, 2nd Lieutenant Hawkeye."

**OXOXOXOXO**

**Author's Notes:**

Kya! This is crap! CRAP! (runs off to hide under a random bed)  
Sorry, Rikku-chan! I tried! I really tried! (cries)  
RoyRiza is hard… Except for this dedicated drabble series, I shall only write RoyEd. Everr.  
Arggh. Never knew it'd be this hard…  
The ending was crap.


	2. Promotion

WARNING: Set in pre-anime time… No spoiler.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hagane no Renkinjutsushi. It belongs to Hiromu Arakawa sensei.

PAIRING: RoyRiza

_;spacing;_

**Of Arrays and Guns**

#2. Promotion

_;spacing;_

"Congratulation, 2nd Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, you've been promoted to the position of 1st Lieutenant," the Lieutenant Colonel read the first line of the document, "Damn, I sound like some kind of phone advertisement…" he muttered lowly, and the promoted woman pretended to not hear that. "When you said you will protect me, I never realized that you meant to outrank me," he said mischievously, handing her the document. "I only read you the first line, so you'll have to read the rest of the document on your own… I advise you to read it if you can't go to sleep. Those are awfully boring, and they're all crap. The military never follows them anyway." 

"Sir," she saluted firmly.

"Ah, mou," the Lt. Colonel whined, spinning around in his swiveling chair, "They better give me a promotion soon..." He muttered grudgingly, tipping his head back so that it hung off the top of his chair. "I mean, my subordinate outranking me in a year…! That'd be a total humiliation. Soon, they'll be supporting 2nd Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye to become the Fuhrer! And the name Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist and an _excellent soon-to-be_ leader, will be forgotten because they got brainwashed by her!"

Deftly she loaded her gun with her blank expression on her face, and then pointed at the Lt. Colonel's head, and gestured to the paperwork currently hiding under his desk. "If you want a promotion, sir," she coolly said with the barest hint of smirk, "I suggest that you finish that paperwork _right now_ and not 15 minutes before lunch."

The Lt. Colonel visibly shrank under Hawkeye's superior presence, hauled the load of paperwork up on his desk, and started slaving away.

He really wanted the promotion, dang it.


	3. Dog Training

WARNING: Character spoiler, if you don't know Black Hayate…

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hagane no Renkinjutsushi. It belongs to Hiromu Arakawa sensei.

PAIRING: RoyRiza

**Of Arrays and Guns**

#3. Lunch Break

_**OXOXOXOXO**_

"Hayate, sit," she commanded firmly at the dog.

The dog immediately reacted, hurriedly doing it as he hopefully eyed the can in her hand at the corner of his eyes. He barked, high pitched, and wagged his tail, his black eyes glittering as she stared at him back, her gaze unmoving. She shook the can in front of the dog's eyes in an attempt to perhaps tempt him, but the dog sat, still, just eyeing the can of glittery hopefulness.

"Hand," she reached out, her palm facing upwards.

He placed his paw in her hand.

"Good dog," she lightly smiled at him, patting him on the head. He barked once more, tail restlessly moving as he stared at her hand. The clock read 12:33. He was supposed to eat his lunch 33 minutes and 13 seconds ago, if it wasn't for a certain colonel who refused to do his paperwork until the last minute. With a bullet embarked deeply into the space right next to his head, Roy Mustang was currently slaving away at his work, which was due at 12:45. Not that he ever did his work earlier than this…

Hawkeye paused, staring at Hayate, as she thoughtfully rolled the can in her hand unconsciously, lightheartedly noticing that his dark eyes were following her every movement with something that was too akin to hope. Finally, she held out her hand again, only this time with her palm faced sideways and fingers curled in slightly. "Shake," she commanded.

Without any hesitation, Hayate barked and lifted up his paw, placing it in her healthily pale hand. He whined, his nose nudging at her hand that was grasping the silver sealed cylinder.

Chuckling, Riza took out a can opener from her uniform pocket, opened it at the top, and emptied the can on the bowl sitting next to Hayate.

She enjoyed her lunch, sitting on a couch next to Hayate and nibbling at her sandwich she made for herself. When she was finished, she gazed at the door to a certain colonel's office, and then looked down at a small brown paper bag on her lap thoughtfully, as if she was deciding something, looking back and forth at the door and the bag.

As in for Roy…

He was seating in front of his desk, hopelessly staring at the paperwork that seemed to not lessen at all no matter how hard he worked. His stomach growled beneath his thick uniform and he sighed, rubbing at it with weariness. Sometimes he wondered if Hawkeye thought he was a dog. Literally. Not the 'Men are such a dog' type of dog, dog as in literally, the furry little creatures who barks their head off and snarls at you.

After all, she was "training" him in the same way she trained Black Hayate. Point a gun at your head, and if you don't do it, shoot without hesitation. He still remembers how Riza toilet trained Hayate a while ago. She shot him in total of 6, gunshots narrowly missing his limbs. The puppy had been frightened. Very frightened. He started doing anything Hawkeye told him to do without hesitation.

It was the same with Roy. Every day he'd fool around, spin around in his chair doing nothing until he attempted to train Hayate with meat few hours before lunch. Then he'd be back in his office, shoving his paperwork under his desk and doodling on one of the document given to him. Hawkeye would then barge in, swiftly run her eyes over the empty desk and the paper with black blobs on them, load her gun deftly, point it at his head in silent warning, before shooting him if Roy didn't respond to her action.

It happened practically daily before.

"Taisa (Colonel)," she opened the door, a brown paper bag in her hand, "Here you go, sir." She threw it, and closed the door immediately after the bag was out of her grasp.

Roy blinked as the paper bag landed right on his desk with a rustle. Cautiously, he peeked inside, before grinning fondly at the place Hawkeye was standing at. Quietly, he took out the sandwich and started eating it, reading the documents as he went.

But the number of Hawkeye shooting at him lessened bit by bit, and Roy amusedly thought.

He was wrapped around her pinkie already.

**OXOXOXOXO**

**Author's Notes:**  
Well, there goes my third attempt… (stares into the air)  
Thank you for reviewing this drabble series…! It makes me happy!  
Though, it's not my first time writing something that's not yaoi.  
I write Inuyasha X Kagome, Miroku X Sango, Kagura X Sesshoumaru, and such from Inuyasha fandom. I only support straight couples in Inuyasha fandom except for Bankotsu and Jakotsu.  
Just because I happen to be infatuated with a pairing that happens to be slash doesn't mean I only support yaoi. In fact, I love Al X Winry in FMA too. I love Havoc X Riza. It just happens to be that I don't support Roy X Riza.  
Really, I mean…the only main yaoi couples I like very much are HaoRen, RoyEd, SasuNaru, and KakaIru so far. And that's it. I support more straight pairings more than yaoi couples, in fact.  
Anyways, that's it for my rant. Oh, and Tempest Kiro-san. I followed the Japanese military rank system that was used during World War II. And technically, in manga, Roy wasn't promoted to Colonel when he made a little visit to Ed. The first chapter was before he visited Ed, so he was Lt. Colonel during that time. He was Lt. Colonel when he visited Ed in 3rd episode in the anime too. I watched the episodes, all 51 episodes, and I collect manga. I checked the manga before I wrote the chapter, just to make sure. Thanks for the critique though. Sorry for the long Author's Notes.  
And this is dedicated to Rikku-chan all the way! Woo woo!

(EDIT) I just realized that I wrote Roy's rank wrong. Sorry...


End file.
